Chapter 1307: War Tax
Qianye put down the records, saying, “Where is our contact person from the Empire? Bring him to me.”
Moments later, the general brought a lanky man in his middle ages. The person was clad in Chinese clothing and hailed from an unheard-of lower aristocratic family. Perhaps it was something he did back in the family, or maybe he just wanted to stand out from his peers, but the man had traveled all the way here to Fort Continent to serve as the liaison between Qianye and the Imperial military.
Qianye had no good feelings toward this person. He placed the two records in front of him, saying, “I heard the Empire has stopped s.h.i.+pping the medicine. What’s going on?”
That person cupped his hand unhurriedly. “This matter is quite simple. The Empire is also strained from the war in the new world. The higher-ups in the military think that the current exchange price is too favorable for you. This isn’t appropriate in times like these where the Empire is also undergoing hards.h.i.+p. That’s why they stopped the deliveries to renegotiate the price.”
Qianye replied calmly, “What price are you suggesting?”
“The higher-ups want to exchange three portions of holy tree sap for one dose of medicine.”
“You guys are crazy!” The nearby general jumped out of his seat. This was akin to raising the price three times. How could they accept this?
Qianye stopped the general with a wave of his hand. He gazed at the Imperial liaison with a darkening expression. “You already knew about this beforehand, right?”
The emissary’s expression s.h.i.+fted slightly. “I did get the news a couple of days ago, but I thought I’d wait for your return since this isn’t an emergency.”
He worded it nicely, but Qianye understood that they just wanted to trick Qianye into s.h.i.+pping out more holy tree sap. Every extra batch of holy tree sap would count as his accomplishment.
Qianye replied calmly, “Who do you think you are to play tricks in front of me?”
He just tapped on the table without making any other movements, but the emissary felt something akin to a sledgehammer slam into his chest. His face went pale as origin power ran amok in his thorax, almost as though a maelstrom was about to burst outward.
“Sire, please spare me!” The emissary fell to his knees. He finally understood that Qianye could crush someone like him with a single finger.
“I’ll let you off out of consideration for your status. Go and tell those higher-ups of yours that I can accept a two-for-one ratio, nothing beyond that. Also, tell those people to sit tight in their seats. I’ll be coming for a chat once I’m done with the expansion efforts in the new world.”
Not daring to utter a word, the emissary wiped the sweat off of his brows and bowed out in a hurry.
The general glanced worriedly at the man’s receding figure. “Sire, are we going to let him off just like that? He’ll surely work against you once he’s back.”
Qianye replied, “What else can they do after tripling the price? It might be true that the battles on the Qin Continent side aren’t going too well. Giving them a bit more can be considered supporting the Empire. These people might play some tricks from time to time, but I don’t have time to deal with them yet. We’ll see when the dust settles.”
After some thought, the general found this to be reasonable. With the expansion in the new world going on at full capacity, shedding all pretenses with the Empire now would take up too much energy and time. This man had followed Qianye for a long while and thus knew a fair bit about his past. “Since it’s Sire Jundu leading the war efforts over there, it’s only natural for us to support them.”
Qianye shook his head. “Things aren’t that simple. The price increase is just the beginning.”
The general was startled. “Considering Sire Zhao Jundu’s status and yours, would anyone be so bold as to pluck the proverbial tiger’s whiskers?”
Qianye walked over to the window, gazing at the bustling Cerulean Jade City. “This place was just a remote and desolate place when I arrived. It was never worthy of the Empire’s attention, nor did anyone care about the benefits here. The earliest aristocratic families who joined us were just minor characters. Rather than say they saw potential in Fort Continent, it would be more accurate to say that they were betting on me. Now, things are different. Just this city and the consumption from millions of werewolves is a ma.s.sive business opportunity. I think those people have their eyes on this fat piece of meat.”
As someone of mercenary background, the general had his temper moments. He glared hard, saying, “They want this piece of meat?! They might just choke on it!”
Qianye laughed. “That’s how it is. Go now, pay attention to the movements from the Empire’s side. We still have several batches of resources on the way.”
The general was surprised. “Those are military supplies from the aristocratic families, no?”
“True, but they come from the Empire.”
The general’s voice rose sharply. “But you’ve already paid for them!”
Qianye replied, “That’s no longer important at such a time.”
“This…” The general was speechless.
Qianye replied calmly, “It’s fine. We’ll just consider them as support for Jundu’s pioneering efforts. We can let go of the resources, but we can’t ignore where they are going. It’s fine if these things are being s.h.i.+pped to the front lines, but I will get to the bottom of it if they’re missing. Pa.s.s my word to the Empire.”
“Yes, Sire.”
Qianye arrived by the window after the general’s departure. His relaxed expression was nowhere to be seen as flames of anger gradually surged up. He spoke to his subordinate in a fairly calm manner, but he didn’t really have that kind of good temper.
The Empire was still trying to impede their people at such a time. Qianye had relied on himself to rise to power on Fort Continent and suppress the Moorland werewolves’ expansion in the new world. This was a great contribution to the human race and the Empire. Who would’ve thought he would run into something like this?
Qianye slowly calmed himself down and made ready to see what tricks these people were up to. There was no meaning in getting angry under the present circ.u.mstances. He would need to wait and see how he could retaliate.
News arrived pretty quickly this time, but the contents did not make Qianye happy. It was already a great test on his patience just to remain calm.
The military supplies from the various aristocratic families had finally arrived, but there were fewer airs.h.i.+ps than expected. A good chunk of goods on the airs.h.i.+ps that did arrive was also missing.
Reportedly, they had been intercepted by patrols. The Imperial Guard had boarded the airs.h.i.+ps by force and announced a new law, stating that from today onward, all military supplies leaving the Empire would be taxed.
Unfortunately, most of the goods being s.h.i.+pped to Fort Continent were cla.s.sified as military supplies. It also happened that Fort Continent was outside of the Empire. Qianye wanted to build up his own country, so he never went through any va.s.sal-state procedures. Va.s.sal states were cla.s.sified as beyond Empire borders anyway.
The tax rate was half of all the resources, and that was a “special rate” that the aristocratic escorts had tried their utmost to negotiate.
Qianye did not express his anger in front of everyone and merely asked about the details.
The managers in charge of the fleet were clever people. Sensing that something was off, they called on favors to ask around for more information.
It turned out that the Empire had issued an order to heavily tax outbound military supplies during times of war.
This kind of order wasn’t a problem under normal circ.u.mstances. Limiting the export of some staple resources in times of war was a common occurrence. Although there was still the black market, the aristocratic families who wanted to earn money during critical times would need to sneak about or look for representatives. They were only taxing the resources at the moment, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Targeting Qianye, however, was a different matter.
Qianye’s expression was as calm as still water. “Those people must know that the resources from my side will stop as well.”
A merchant manager said, “Sire, those people might not see it that way.”
“Oh, how do they see it then?”
“Just think about it. In this back and forth exchange, you gain resources and we gain profits. There’s nothing that benefits the Empire, much less those people. The salaries of those decision-makers won’t be affected at all even if you don’t s.h.i.+p anything to the Empire.”
Qianye frowned. “What do you think we should do then?”
“Find the key character and take appropriate steps!”
Qianye asked, “What if the appropriate steps aren’t effective? Or if they take too long?”
“Erm… there’s no good way out of it then, this is the only effective method. Those people dare to do such things because they’re not afraid of you or the Zhao clan.”
Qianye nodded. “Looks like this piece of meat is too attractive.”
The manager adapted to the flow of the conversation. “Fort Continent became what it is today under your management.”
Qianye was indeed comforted by this flattery. “I was just lucky.” After the humble words, he sized up the manager in delight. “What’s your name?”
The manager said, “This little one is Sun Degui of the Four Seas Merchant Group.”
Qianye nodded. “Keep an eye out of any changes in the Empire. Report directly to me if there’s anything important. Also, ask around for who’s targeting this place.”
Sun Degui replied hurriedly, “I’ll do my best.”
“That’ll be all.” Qianye dismissed the group before penning a letter to Zhao Jundu, to be forwarded by the Zhao clan’s stronghold. Having done all of that, he went back into the new world to continue his expansion and suppress the Moorland werewolves.
…
The defense forces were on full alert outside of the door on the Great Qin Continent, staring nervously at the boundless white mist. It wasn’t just beasts that might come through the door but also demonkin scouting parties.
At this point, the Empire and the demonkin alliance led by the Masefield family were at war in the new world. Both sides had figured out each other’s doors and were sending in suicidal scouting parties.
There was a sudden movement around the Empire’s door. A sharp killing intent shot into the sky, causing everyone to tremble. The meek soldiers with weaker cultivation fell on their buts.
A general roared in dissatisfaction, “What’s with the panic?! It has to be Sire Jundu coming back. How many times has it been? It’s not like you guys haven’t seen him before. There’s no need to act like frightened chickens!”
The soldiers obeyed but weren’t resigned at heart. That general himself was pale and clearly trembling from the killing intent. How was he any better?
Heavy footsteps echoed from the mist, causing the earth to tremble as squad after squad of soldiers marched out.
The soldiers’ clothes were in tatters and many of them were covered in bandages, but their killing intent and the mechanical uniformity of their movements caused the beholder to tremble in awe.
The general said in a soft voice, “Now that’s an army!”
After the warriors were done marching out, a dark green pillar of origin power shot out from the depths of the mist. It almost seemed to stab right through the horizon.
Everyone from the commander of the fortress down to the ordinary soldiers felt a chill from the depths of their heart. Someone muttered, “Did the color grow deeper again?”